


A New Chance

by chuzzle786



Category: Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, rc9gn
Genre: Aged Up, College AU, F/F, First Meet, Freshman!Randy, M/M, Sophomore!Howard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-01-13 08:31:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1219576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chuzzle786/pseuds/chuzzle786
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Randy and Howard go to the same university, and turns out there aren't any two biffers in the world that belong together more than them.</p><p>((Randy's P.O.V.))</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Randy starts college, a new part of his life, and he's SO ready to begin taking control of his life. He's going to enjoy the crazy thrill ride that it's so supposed to be, but can he even make it through the first day?

"Wait! Wait!!!" I cried as the bus doors closed shut. I ran, huffing, as I skidded to a stop in front of the bus's entrance.

The doors screeched open and the woman driving the bus gave me a somewhat exhausted look. I climbed up nonetheless, giving her a nod and murmered, "Thanks."

It was packed on the bus; practically no seats left. Hardly a surprise, it was the first day of school at Norrisville University. Norrisville had always been a rich town, and it spared no expense on the local college. It was a beautiful, huge campus, the kind of college thats made up of several smaller majoring schools. The school had a system of buses that students could take for free, from the shopping district, to different areas of the campus, and the dorms. 

Of course, I had stumbled to a late start, barely catching the bus on my first day. But it didn't matter, I thought, because now I'm here. I'm here and now I'm in control of my own life, and I was certainly going to make every second count. 

The closest vacant seat was next to a heavy-set, short, ginger guy. He seemed entranced in his handheld videogame and his fingers flew over the controls. "Hey," I began, "Can I sit here?"

The student paused his game and gave me a quick look over. "Hm? Sure, I guess."

I sat down and plopped my bag at my feet. It was one of my favorite things, my McBackpack, I had saved up just for it. I got it in a simple orange with black straps and black outlining the zippers. I glanced down at the other guy's bag, and I couldn't believe it. It was also a McBackpack, but colored like I'd never seen. It also had black straps, but colored a light teal. The outling of the zippers had "GRAVEPUNCHERS" stitched along it, and the front small pocket had the Gravepuncher's glove on it. My jaw went slack, and I said with quiet awe, "Woah, your backpack is so cool, I didn't even _know_ they made Gravepunchers ones."

He looked up from his game and actually gave me a grin. "Yeah, I know, totally limited edition stuff. I didn't think anyone even remembered what Gravepunchers was anymore..." 

With a small chuckle, he showed me what he was playing. It was indeed, _Gravepuncher's 7, World War Punch_. I watched him play as the bus drove, and man, he was admittedly superb at it. "You're so good at this game!" I exclaimed, "I loved the whole Gravepuncher's series. I set all kinds of records in my neighborhood."

"Oh? Is that some kind of challenge?" he sneered playfully. 

I grinned, then held out my hand for a fist bump. "Randy Cunningham," I offered. 

He fist bumped me back. "Howard Weinerman."

Just then, the bus came to another stop. "3rd college, Sciences and Medicine," the bus driver called. 

"That's me," I said to Howard, and slung my bag over my shoulder. "Maybe I'll see ya later," I added. 

He offered a small nod, for he was sucked into his game once again. Didn't bother me, I knew how intense Gravepunchers could get. I hopped of the bus and headed towards the classrooms of the 3rd college. 

I earlier had memorized my schedule, no doubt, since I had painstakingly awaited this day all my life. I was going to enjoy every single bit of this, I was not going to forget these good times, and certainly not my first day's classes. Highschool had been a...blur, to say at the least, and I was determined not to repeat that. I walked into my first period class, which was just the required freshmen seminar class, the one all freshmen had to take. For the basics of life or college or something, I don't know. 

After taking a seat in one of the middle rows, I reached into my backpack for a notepad and pencil. Maybe that McBubbleslam too, just to wake up. But as I felt around in my bag...wait. Wait a second. This...was not my bag.

I had been thinking so much about how I was going to make it in college the way I wanted to, I had grabbed Howard's backpack instead of mine! "Crap!" I hissed, slightly thankful it was only the first day and didn't really need anything. 

I hoped the guy wasn't pissed, it was an honest mishap! And maybe he'd think I'd stolen it on purpose...hoo'boy. Well, now he had my backpack, and I had his, and all I could do was pray I'd see him again soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First long-shot I've written, I plan on continuing this. please critique and comment, i know you're out there small rc9gn AO3 community.
> 
> Also yes this chapter is very short, but i need feedback before i continue it, so yes they will probably be longer in the future!!! ovo


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the purple anime-haired kid continues the struggle. I actually had sometime this week to update kinda fairly recently, woohoo.

After having two other classes that day, English and Intro to Anatomy, I headed to my dorm. I wondered to myself what my roommates would be like, hopefully we would get along alright. Hey, maybe we'd even be friends, I thought optimistically. 

My dorm had a slightly chipped gold "9" painted on it. With some crazy luck, I had gotten a dorm with no stairs to it; it was just ground level. 

I stepped in with Howard's bag still slung over my shoulder. Since I had already unloaded my bags a couple days before school began, I had nothing left to unpack. Hey, man, I was eager, ok? Apparently neither of my roommates had wanted to prepare as early as I, because I walked into a what was probably the aftermath of a clothes-nado. 

"Ah!! Sorry, terribly sorry about the rather, eh, _chaotic_ mess," came a eerie, sing-song voice. A long-legged, thin guy decked in simple make-up and purple clothes -emo, maybe? No wait, gothic- swung around the corner of the tiny kitchen. 

"What a beautiful catastrophe!" he chimed passionately, "I was bringing in all of my wears, you can imagine, and suddenly the bags' lock clicked open and everything goes flying! Like some mystical force foretelling I should have unpacked sooner!"

Overwhelmed, I simply nodded. Clearing my throat, I added, "So, do you need help with any of this or...?" 

"Oh no, thank you indeed, but it's better if I handle my own...items," the dark-haired guy said, without eluding to why only he should touch his "items". Not that I wanted to find out, anyway. 

"I'm Julian," he continued with a-what?? Fanged smile, yes, his top, pointed teeth formed little fangs- "I want to major in music, more specifically my theremin."

I walked around the mess toward the miniature living room, which was currently just a couch. "Randy Cunningham, medicine student," I offered. There was so many branches of medicine, and even though I leaned towards a surgeon or a hospitalist, I wasn't sure yet. Finding my calling was not too far away, but I just didn't want to jump the gun. 

"What's a theremin?" I asked, assuming it as an instrument. 

Julian's dark eyes lit up. "Oh!! It's most delightful, dark, and eerie instrument to ever exist. Simply magnificent; I'll show you sometime!" 

"Cool... thanks. Well, I'll leave you to taking care of that," I eyed the mess on the ground. 

He nodded and swooped his thin structure down to scoop up his clothes and belongings. Our dorm consisted of two bedrooms, 1 double-sided bathroom, a small kitchen, and a small living room. (There were 3 kinds of housing at Norrisville Uni: dorms, suite dorms, and apartments. We had a suite dorm, thus the space besides bedrooms). I was going to share my room with another student, while Julian lucked out with the other room to himself. The fourth supposed roommate ended up as a no-show. But maybe the guy who didn't come was the lucky one, I thought, shuddering at Julian and a room full of his dark, eerie things.

I shuffled into the room. Small, I thought, but not too cramped. My roomie for the year was sitting at a desk to the left, his back to me. "Oh, hey there!" I piped at the hunched-over figure. 

Some kind of non-responsive grunt came from him. _Oooo'kay_. I notice he'd taken the bottom bunk, which was totally fine by me, since I still slept on a top bunk at home. I tossed Howard's bag on the floor, then gave a little sigh. No. No way man, this guy was NOT gonna give the cold shoulder, not on day one. "Ahem," I coughed loudly, "I'm Randy... wassuup?"

The guy turned around in his chair. He was scrawny, with brown mousy hair, and his fingers looked absolutely worked to the bone. Not that one usually looks at someone's hands, but seriously, this kid's were calloused and worn. His tired eyes met mine. "Hey. Sorry... name's Brent."

He had some kind of southern accent, I observed, but not very noticeable. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Oh, y'know, just gettin' start on some work."

"Work?! But, it's only the first day!"

His eyes narrowed on me. "Well, excu-USE me! Some of use had to work hard to get here. And I sure am as hell not gonna let this get away from me!" 

"Woah woah woah buddy," I said, hands up in defense, "Ok, ok, I get it. I'm not gonna stop you. I just... I didn't know there was much to do." 

I paused. How _did_ this guy already have work? "So...what are you majoring in?"

"Engineering, architecture specifically." 

_Oh._ I raised my eyebrows. Man, no wonder. Norrisville University had all sorts of majors, but the engineering program was what we were most famous for. With buildings constantly knocked down by those weird monster and robot attacks? The people here strove to build stronger buildings, and as quick as they could too. 

"Wow," I gasped. "That's really impressive, Brent." 

His face softened. "How's 'bout you?"

"Medicine, like surgery and stuff."

Brent nodded, and I strolled over to the desk. He had some blue prints of the local buildings in town. There was the school, Charlie Clucker's, and... ho'man. There was even a print of McFist's main office. Searching the blue paper, it had layers of different networks, the concrete, doors, electrical wirings, vents... _oof._ My head swam for a sec. Those vents...somehow I felt like... I had known them... no, wait, what? I shook my head, and spun back towards the closet in the far corner of the room. "Gonna call it a night" I said without looking back. 

* * *

In bed, I found myself merely staring at the ceiling. Sometimes that happened, where I'd see something that wasn't even out of place, and then I had this weird feeling, like...  
Like when you walk into a room but you forgot why you when in there. But a little more...forbidden, like if you snuck into the room instead. 

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not dwell on it. Howard, I thought, poor Howard. I wasn't taking the bus tomorrow; I had math and it was close enough to walk. I guess I'd have to load my extra paper in his bag and hope I'd bump into him. We'd be cool, right? Right? I really hoped so, because so far I gotten along better with him than my roommates, and I'd only known him for 5 minutes. 

Tomorrow, I thought, just gotta keep an eye out for Howard tomorrow. I sighed and drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> randy needs to stop rambling on and on in his head, jeez kid.
> 
> and sorry this may still have been somewhat on the short side? eh, just wanted to post it ASAP


	3. Chapter 3

I blinked slowly at the off-white ceiling above me. I yawned, rubbed my eyes, and sat up, stretching my too longs arms out above my head. Glancing down at the little digital clock Brent had put on the desk, it read 7:54am. Math...I had Calculus at 9am. I hopped down from the bunk, and Brent was no where to be seen. Poor kid, that's a lot of work. I got ready and headed off to get something to eat.

Julian was either gone or in his room when I left; I didn't catch him on my way out. I trudged into the cafeteria, carrying only with Howard's McBackpack, with my phone and wallet in pocket. I approached the food counter and got some kind of breakfast burrito and a cup of coffee. One bite and...well, they weren't kidding when they said college food is bland and disgusting. This was absolute shit. "Guh," I groaned, and gave it serious grimace before tossing it out. I chugged down the gritty coffee, tossed the cup, and glanced at my phone. 8:39. Go time.

I sunk in a random seat, and dug in Howard's bag for the extra paper I'd thought to toss in. No notes, no notes, please no notes, I prayed wistfully. Crap- no pencil! I totally forgot, and apparently, so did Howard. I slunk deeper, pouting.

 _WHAM!_ Something slapped the desk loudly next to me. I spun to my left, and there was my backpack! ... And a very pissed-off looking ginger glaring at me.

"Howard!" I cried happily.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Howard..." I began weakly.

His arms cross, and he turned is head away from me sharply with anger. "What the _hell_ , Cunningham."

"N-n-no wait! It was a mistake, I swear! I didn't-I didn't mean to- I mean I didn't notice until I got off the bus! I switched totally them by accident!! C'mon, really, look- I messed up, I'm sorry, ok? I messed up. But I didn't mean anything..."

Howard turned back at me, his expression unreadable. Then he took my bag and shoved it -hard- into my chest. "Whatever. Nothing good in there, anyway."

"Here," I offered his bag with a small smile, and he snatched it back with one hand.

Rifling though it, Howard double-checked his backpack. I couldn't blame him; who gets theirs stolen on day one? Content with his search, Howard slouched in the seat next to me with his arms crossed once more. He gazed straight ahead.

"Hey," I began, "I noticed that, uh, well you didn't bring any pencils or pens or whatever..." I dug around in my bag's front pocket. "So, uh, here... I want ya to have this... I know, I know, I know I messed up. I'll make it up to you, buddy, but here- take this for now."

Slowly, his face relaxed until Howard formed a small, sly grin. He took the my peace offering and analyzed it. Eyes never leaving the pencil, he said lowly, "Make it up to me? I'll keep that in mind, Cunningham."

* * *

For the record, my prayers weren't answered. The teacher droned on about the necessary formulas for Calculus and whatever else. "Hey, Cunningham," said Howard as class ended.

"Yeah?"

"When's your next free period?"

"Why?" I asked, weary of my favor to him.

"You, me, lunch. How 'bout it? Your treat," he replied, not skipping a beat.

I doubled checked my phone to see if the school sent out any notifications of canceled classes. One of the great but also bad things about here: The school gave you notifications through texts, but they're often sent at the last second.  
"I actually don't have anything else...my two other classes that are usually today got put off till tomorrow...so, yeah, sure."

"Even better," he smirked.

We walked to the nearby food court, and I paid for Howard's two meals, since he wanted to try two places. Sitting down, he dug into his Subway sandwich first. "Hey," he grunted, "How come you didn't get anything to eat?"

"Oh, the food I had this morning sucked. I guess I don't have any appetite for college food."

"What?!" Howard cried, poking my arm across the table, "No wonder you're a stick. Gotta get some meat on you."

Laughing, I asked, "Oh, and how're ya gonna do that?"

"We'll cook."

"...What?"

He swallowed the rest of his sandwich. "Listen, Cunningham, I am the kinda guy who takes his food seriously. Good food, bad food, I'll eat it all. But a food lover like me can't just live on college crap forever. I know how to cook just fine, thanks! Oooh, and if you help, then we can split the work!"

I just stared.

"Well, ok, you can do most of the work. I'd say I'll do most of the eating...but you're so light, you're gonna float away soon if you don't have some good, Weinerman style food."

I paused. "Cooking? That sounds... ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! How come I never thought of that?"

"Probably 'cause I'm a genius," said Howard, grabbing and taking a large bite of his Chipotle's burrito.

"This is perfect! We'll cook!" I rejoiced. "Only one problem...I've never really cooked beyond boiling Top Ramen."

"Make that two problems, Cunningham. I haven't bought any ingredients yet. I was going to go tomorrow, so I won't cook until Friday."

"Oh. No biggie, we'll wait till Friday. That's what, in 2 days?" I said. "Hmm, I think I might actually have one of those college recipe books! I probably just tossed it somewhere on the floor in my dorm."

Howard scoffed, "Pssshh, since when do dumb books help anyone? You don't need that to make a mean dish."

"Uh, Howard, 'dumb books' are probably how you got into Norrisville University."

"Maybe for an ass like you, but I-"  
He cut off short, standing up quickly, and his head turned sharply. The metal chair gave a loud screech. "Holy. Fucking. Shit."

But before I could even ask, Howard had beelined it straight to the end of the food court. Internally sighing, I grabbed both our backpacks and sprinted after him. Jesus, you wouldn't think someone with a short, stocky build like Howard could run that fast, but he flew down the food court like a bullet. 

" _Charlie Clucker's!!_ " Howard howled as he screeched to a halt in front the small food court vendor. "I can't believe it! They actually put one in here! This is so AWESOME!"

I broke out into a huge grin, "Ahhh hell yeah! Charlie Clucker's is sooo good!" 

We stood at the counter, inhaling the greasy, savory smells of the chicken. Mouths watering. Eyes glazed over. Practically hypnotized by the bright red menu hanging over head. Yes, maybe, just maybe, I would just make it through college eating nothing but Charlie Clucker's and making food with Howard. "Buy me a bucket- and _then_ I'll forgive you for nabbing my pack."

I pulled out my wallet and smacked a couple bills on the counter. "Make that two buckets- to go, please."

* * * 

We strolled around campus, throwing out our empty buckets after we (quickly) finished them. "So," I said, "What are we going to make? On Friday?"

Howard licked the grease off his fingers, one by one, each sounding with a _pop!_ "Hmm... how about a fried egg? Breakfast for dinner?"

"WEAK!" I hollered. 

"What did you expect? You said you can hardly cook."

"Well!- Well... I don't know. Something more, I guess."

Howard just shook his head at me. "You've got a lot of basics to learn, Cunningham, and eggs are one of the vital things in the kitchen."

I turned away, "Whatever..."

We walked a together in comfortable silence. The campus was so beautiful; light foliage was seemingly everywhere, with flowers in a window here, and small trees planted there. The buildings were made of deep, rich, red bricks, with several square windows evenly spaced along the walls. The weather was so comfortable in August, with the sun of the late afternoon keeping away the chill of the coming winter. Beyond the buildings, and the food court long now far behind us, there was an open plaza with a nearby field for sports. Or maybe just hanging out on a blanket, since there were a some kids doing just that. A group of boys passed a football back and forth in the field. We strolled along, shoulders almost touching. It's like we've known each other a long time, how comfortable I was around him, but I then realized I hardly knew anything about Howard. "Hey, so, what major are you going into?"

"Well, I originally planned to do some kind of graphic design, or maybe programming, or technology of some sort. It's gonna be the future, I think. Plus, hey, I would be lying if I said my ultimate goal wasn't working on video games. But..." he trailed off for a moment. "I don't know. It just seems like such a bigger commitment than I ever thought... not as much free time as I'd hoped working with computers would have."

I processed that for moment. But, hold on... the school year had just began. So how did Howard know this commitment suddenly may be to large for him? "Wait," I said, "How many years have you been in college?"

He replied, "Hmm? Oh, I'm a sophomore."

"WHAT?!" I cried, my eyes to a comical size. 

"What?" he said defensively. 

I sputtered, "But I-I'm-! You're a sophomore?! But I'm a freshman!"

Howard looked me up and down. "Wow. You're pretty tall for a freshman."

Somewhere in the back of mind head, I wanted to make a comment on how short he was for a... well, college student at all, let alone a sophomore. But I wisely refrained, not wanting to upset him. I rubbed the back of my neck, "Thanks, I guess? Always been on the tall side."

There was a sudden gap in the conversation. I quickly added, "Well, I'm glad we've got math together!"

He looked at me, debating whether I was insulting him by assuming he was some chowderhead for taking the same math as a freshman, or that I was genuinely glad we shared the class. He must've decided on the latter, because eventually he gave me that crooked grin. "Me too."

"So you?" he asked, "What do you plan on doing, newbie?

I laughed and explained my hopes for a job in the medical field. I hadn't paid much attention to the direction we were going, until Howard said, "Hey, we're really close to my apartment. Wanna come over and see the place?"

I probably should have been thinking about classes, or school, but I was never much of one to think things through. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Will there be two player Gravepunchers?"

Howard smirked at me. "Oh, you are _so_ going down."

* * *  
 _"CONGRATULATIONS: YOU HAVE PUNCHED ALL THE GRAVES"_

"Woohoo!" I hollered. 

"Yeah!" Howard cried at the same time. 

Immediately, we high-fived. The evening had begun with Howard showing me his collectible Gravepuncher comic series, his large assortment of shirts, mugs, and other merch, his amazing Puncher cosplay (in which I told him of my own Puncher get-up), and finally his overflowing basket of the different Gravepuncher games. We played the one that Howard's backpack was from, _Gravepunchers 7: World War Punch_ , for the sake of irony. 

It had gone from competition, to teasing, yelling, and finally escalating to the point where we were grabbing each other's controllers and screaming, "CHEATER!" In all honestly, we were both just too equal in our awesome gravepunching skills to see who was better. Which, of course, was me. Duh. Obviously, I mean c'mon, I'm Randy Cunningham, world's best gravepuncher! But Howard would never admit that. 

Then, in a moment of brilliance, we decided to put our skills together and play co-op. Best idea ever! We totally dominated; the hardest bosses were no match for our combined skills. I leaned back, stretching, and said, "That was awesome, Howard. But my thumbs hurt from all that intensity."

He nodded. "Gotta keep your thumbs fresh for optimal grave punching." 

I got up from in front of his T.V. and walked about the apartment. It was nicer than my place. I had the sneaking suspicion that Howard was rich, or possibly just pretty wealthy. Especially with all those old, collectible Gravepuncher goods...all that couldn't have been cheap. "Hey," I piped, seeing it was a two person apartment, "Where's your roommate?"

Howard said, "Him? His name is Bobby, wait no; Bucky, I think. Yeah, Bucky." He rubbed his cheek. "He's at his girlfriend's place, last he said. Seems like he's always there. Not that I'm complaining, of course."

I nodded, and turned into Howard's bedroom. I must've missed it when he was showing me all his Gravepuncher things, because there- in the corner of the room-

"Woah!" I said, "Is that your drum set?!"

Howard peeked in the room and smirked. "Yep, sure is! Let me tell you, Cunningham, I am one _hell_ of a drummer." 

"Ho' man, I bet you could bang out some rockin' beats on this thing." I turned, looking back at him. "Hey, y'know, I actually play an instrument, too."

"Yeah? What is it? You kinda catch me as a guitar playing guy or something."

"Actually, I play keytar."

Howard widened his eyes. "Woah, really? I've never heard someone play one of those in real life!"

Pleased, I said, "You don't even need to ask- I'll totally bring it over and show you sometime! Or you could see it at my dorm."

"Ah, sick!" He said. "What kind of music do you like?"

"Electro, alternative, and a lot of rock," I responded. "You?"

"I like dubstep, and rock too, and pretty much anything with a solid beat." 

I put on a slow grin and shoved Howard. "My music taste is way better than yours, loser."

"What?! No! It's like, the same. Except- the part where mine is better!"

"Nuh-uh," I said coyly. 

"Yeah- HUH!" he said, shoving me back. 

I caught my footing - he had a strong play-shove. "Well, I'm probably a better music...player...rock...guy, whatever, than you!" I said. 

"In your dreams, Cunningham. Everyone knows the drums are the most important part of any good song."

"Hmm," I murmured. "Actually, I bet we both rock. Like at Gravepunchers. Like-"

"We'd be the best if we played together!" we cried at the same time. 

Of course, we high-fived again, and went for a fistbump afterwords, too. "Hell yeah," Howard said. 

We left Howard's room and I couldn't help but yawn. It had been a full day. "I should get going," I said. 

"Ok. Here, give me your number and we can hang out again, maybe tomorrow?"

"Sure!" I replied

We exchanged numbers and I left with my own - and yes, this time I didn't screw it up again - backpack. Just as I passed the doorway, Howard said, "Hey, Cunningham."

"Yeah?"

"Eat something for dinner tonight, stupid."

"Sure thing, buddy," I replied with a small smile. 

Behind his mocking tone, I swear I could hear the most subtle note of concern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait!! Writer's block, but mostly school made it take so long. Big thanks to my beta [ Clare](http://queencophine.tumblr.com/)!!! 
> 
> Also I have the main plot thought out, so don't worry, I don't plan to abandon this fic. Just, most likely, updates with long periods of time in between, unfortunately u~u.
> 
> Couple side notes, I don't currently plan on adding any OC's. I'm not going to be using the show's "slanguage" because I know I can't make it sound as smooth as they do in the show. I have a [ tumblr](http://chuzzle786.tumblr.com/). And, I wrote the section about Chef!Howard right before I saw a little trend of it in the rc9gn tag, which was pretty cool. 
> 
> Feedback appreciated as always!! Thanks everyone!!! ^u^


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by [Clare](http://queencophine.tumblr.com)!!! She's a dear, can't thank her enough! <3
> 
>  
> 
> [my tumblr](http://chuzzle786.tumblr.com)

You know those dreams you have where things don't really make sense? But then there are those dreams that feel so familiar, it's like déjà vu? Well, I had one that was a strange mix of the two.

I was floating. Peacefully, aimlessly floating, sometimes doing unplanned somersaults and backflips. My hair flowed gently around me. Then, the wind picked up in a sudden gust, filling the air with the sound of pages of a book rapidly fluttering in the wind. _Answers_ , spoke a jarring, neutral voice. _Answers. Answers. Answers._

"Answers?" I asked. My mouth opened, but it seemed like my voice came from behind me instead. 

_ANSWERS._ This time it was stricter, more demanding. I was about to ask, "What answers?", but just then a solid object slammed into my chest. I felt the breath knocked out of me; it was like a thick pillar had run into me at top speed. I screamed as it pushed me backwards, while the wall-like force hurtled forward. 

Suddenly, it stopped, and I floated back to see what had hit me. Towering above me was a giant, dark red letter "F," and I realized what had smacked into me was the stem of the letter. 

" _Wrong answers! Wrong answers!_ " echoed a jeering voice, far different than the stoic one that had previously spoken. 

"No!" I yelled, eyes fixated on the giant "F". "I can't fail yet! I just started!"

The "F" pulsed an even deeper red. 

"No!" I repeated. "No! Let me retake it. Let me try again. I won't fail; let me do it one more time!"

I rose with a start, a final _No!_ gasped on my lips. I hunched over, breathless and panting where I sat. I stared at the covers, then at my hands on the covers, and at last I surveyed the dorm around me. I blinked hard as I regained my bearings. 

Two gleaming reflections of eyes peered in from the darkness below my bunk. I squinted at the figure. "...Brent?"

It shifted, then nodded. "Yeah," came his tired voice. 

"Did I wake you up? Uh, sorry about that." 

Brent shrugged. "'S fine. You just kept kickin' a lot, and saying 'no,' too." 

He reached up, handing me my pillow that I had somehow knocked off the top bunk. "You get nightmares a lot?" he added. 

"No," I lied. I had nightmares frequently, though none quite as... familiar feeling as this one 

"Well, good," he replied rather gruffly. "I don't want none of my sleep missin' 'cause of you." 

I nodded, though I wasn't sure if he saw it in the dark. Laying back down, I said quietly, "Night."

Brent hummed tiredly in return. 

* * *

The next morning, I got ready as usual, pulling out a pair of skinny jeans (McSkinnies never go out of style, if you ask me), a t-shirt, and a hoodie at random. I walked out into the main room towards the door. Julian was there on the small couch, tapping fiercely on his phone. "Greetings!" he piped. 

"'Sup?" I said. 

"Just playing the most enchanting game!" he said, shoving his phone towards me. "The goal is to torture your enemies. Care to try?"

I slightly raised an eyeball at the cartoonishly bloodied screen. "I'll... pass."

I opened the door and left. 

Yawning, I sluggishly entered math class. Where was Howard? I'd sit by him. 

I spotted him quickly. He sat slouched, relaxing comfortably in his seat. Standing near him was a tall girl, with short, purple hair with a little ponytail on top. She wore a deep navy blue dress and white leggings. "Hey," I approached. 

"Cunningham!" Howard greeted. 

"Who's this?" I asked, gesturing towards the girl. 

Cocking his head towards her, he said simply, "Fowler."

"Hi," she said, offering a hand. "I'm Theresa Fowler." 

I shook Theresa's hand. Her grip was inexplicably firm, and I had the impression she was pretty athletic. 

"You a sophomore too, like Howard?" I asked. 

She shook her head. "No. A freshman."

"How do you two know each other?"

Howard said, "Actually, I know Theresa through my sister. I have a sister, Heidi, who's a year older than me. She doesn't go to Norrisville Uni, but she has this like, _super_ popular blog."

"Right," continued Theresa. "And so I started talking to Heidi through it. And I actually got to meet up with her. Eventually, I met Howard. And now we both go here together!"

I nodded. "Cool!"

The teacher walked in, and announced the lesson was about to begin. I sat on the right of Howard, and Theresa was on his left. I yawned one more time, arching my back, and started scrawling down notes. 

After class, I asked Howard if were going to lunch. He nodded, saying we'd meet in the same food course again. Then, I invited Theresa to come with us, too. "No thanks," she declined. "I'm actually going out on a date with my girlfriend. But a different time! I'll catch up with you guys another time soon!"

One class later, I joined Howard in the large lunch court. "I'm starving," Howard said as soon as I got there. 

"Well, thanks for waiting for me. Let's go." I said. 

I decided on a plate of Panda Express, because I had a lot of choices that way. Howard got 4 heaping slices of everything-on-it pizza. 

"So Theresa's got a girlfriend?" I said. 

"Mm-hmm." Howard swallowed. "Debby Kang. She's a sophomore, but don't let that fool ya. She's, like, queen of the nerds or something. She takes senior level math, captain of the chess team, fluent in like 4 languages....man. Too frickin' smart."

"Woah," I nodded. "That's insane! Who even does that? What about having fun in college?

"Maybe she enjoys learning." 

We held eye contact for about 2 seconds before bursting into laughter. "Ha! Learning? Fun?" Howard choked out between laughs. 

"Pssh, yeah right!" I cried, clutching my stomach. "Haha!"

Eventually, we quieted down, wiping our eyes. "Ho' man," I said, as I tossed out my plate and sat back down. "Nerds."

"Woo, yeah," Howard sighed. "So anyway... we still up for cooking tomorrow?"

"Ah yeah, you know it!" I said. "And you're going shopping today?"

"Mm-hm."

"I wanna come!"

"Really?" 

"'Course! The more the merrier, right?"

"Yeah," said Howard. "I wanted to go around 5. Meet me by the buses then, 'k? They'll take us to the shopping center." 

"Sure!" I pumped my fist excitedly in the air. "This is gonna be sweeet!"

Howard looked at me flatly. "Dude. We're only going shopping. For food."

I pouted. "Whatever. You'll see, it'll be fun."

He just shrugged. "If you say so..."

* * * 

Just like on day one, I found myself sprinting to the buses once again. 

I ran wildly to the bus stop, mentally cursing myself for being late. Almost everyone was boarded already; just a young couple and one impatient looking Howard were left outside. I rushed just into me to board right behind Howard, and we shuffled into a seat. 

"I... I'm sorry I'm... late," I panted. 

Howard crossed his arms and glared out the window. 

"Dude!" I said, "You can't... you can't be mad at me for a little thing like this!"

He looked at me sharply, "I thought you were gonna be a no-show!" 

"Well, I wasn't!"

"Yeah, but the bus nearly left without you!"

"But it didn't!"

"It almost did, though! And then you'd left me on my own, and gone back on saying you were coming."

I said, "Look, I know I really did almost miss it. But it's not my fault! Class got held back late, ok? I swear, I did want to come. I wasn't gonna ditch you."

Howard sighed. Then he said, "Fine. Ok, I get it, you didn't know class was gonna run late. I was just afraid you didn't care about coming or some shit, y'know?"

For some reason, that send a lonely pang through my body. I felt like I really did know... like an all-too familiar feeling of no one caring anymore. 

"Yeah buddy," I said. "I know. Next time, I'll try and text you, ok?"

"Thanks," he said. 

We sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the ride. I think we had caused a little scene with our outburst, but it was quickly forgotten. The bus reached our stop with a slow, screeching halt. 

After getting out, I piped, "So where's the super market?" 

"This way," Howard called. 

I followed him as he headed into one of the outlets in the shopping center. As soon as we got to the front of the store, I raced ahead of Howard and pulled out a shopping cart. 

"Get in loser, we're going shopping."

Howard paused. "...What?"

"Sorry," I chuckled. "I've just always wanted to say that."

He merely frowned at me. 

I said, "No, but seriously- get in the cart."

"No! What? Why?"

"Because," I cried, "I said this was gonna be fun! And so you're gonna get in the cart, and I'm gonna push you in there at _top speed_."

"Uh, no," he said. "Nuh-uh. No fuckin' way."

"How-aaard..."

"Nope. Not gonna happen, Cunningham."

"Oh yeah?" I challenged, grinning. "Don't make me pick you up and put you in there."

He narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

I gave a maniacal laugh, and moved towards him slowly with my arms raised. "Try me."

I got closer, closer, so close I could almost reach down and grab him when-

"Ok! FINE, I'll get in the dumb cart!"

"Aww yiss!" I sang victoriously. 

Howard grumbled as he pulled himself (rather ungraciously) into the cart. 

"This is gonna be awesome," I assured him.

I grabbed the handle and pushed the cart in front of the automatic doors. "Ready?" I asked. "3, 2, 1... Go!"

I bolted as quickly as I could. Howard's knuckles turned white as he gripped the metal sides. "Ok, Howard!" I called over the loud rattling of the cart, "Where to?"

He spun towards me, and to my relief a huge smile was spilled on his face, "Uh- eggs! We need eggs!"

"Roger!" I hollered back. 

We sped down an aisle, then Howard screamed, "Left!"

The cart tipped as I turned sharply, and Howard nearly fell out. "You ok?!" I said. 

"Woohoo! Good to go!" He said, grinning wildly. 

"Ok- woah!" I exclaimed, narrowly dodging a shopper as we sped through the aisle. Jeez, people always seem to get in your way, y'know?

"There, on the right!" called Howard, and I screeched us to a halt. 

He hopped out and after a quick inspection, loaded in a dozen eggs. "What else?" I asked. 

Basically, it turned into a shopping nightmare if you were another shopper that day. We flew down the aisles, recklessly knocking down items and nearly everyone else. I pushed Howard as we howled with excitement, picking up bacon, butter, shredded cheese, and milk. Finally, Howard said we had enough for "breakfast for dinner," and we headed to the check-out aisle. 

Carrying the bags to bus stop, we sat and waited. "I'll admit it," Howard began, "That _was_ pretty fun."

"Boosh!" I said. "Told ya so."

"At least for me. You had to do all the pushing. 'Course, I'm not complaining, I like sittin' back and letting others do the work ." He said bluntly. "How'd you even have all that energy?"

I shrugged. "Dunno."

"Did you take track in highschool or something?"

Inwardly, I flinched. Highschool. Why'd he have to ask? Because honestly, I had no idea whether or not I had taken track and field. I couldn't remember any of the past four years. 

"No," I said, praying my voice didn't sound as weak as I felt. 

"No? Then maybe a different sport, like-"

"Oh look! Bus is here!" I said. 

I hopped off the bench and Howard followed. "Cunningham...?" He questioned. 

"Um, nothing," I said. "Just, don't want any of the food to spoil! Yeah! So, uh, we should get this to your apartment quick!" 

"Ok..." Howard said, and his face told me I wasn't good a liar as I hoped I was. 

* * *

I was sprawled on my bunk, playing Flappy Bird on my phone. As soon as we had arrived at Howard's apartment, and loaded up the groceries, I cooly said goodbye and made an exit that exemplified confidence. Just kidding. I fled the place, offered up some horribly weak excuse, and went back to my dorm. 

At the desk, Brent currently was hunched over some work, and was chewing furiously at his pencil eraser. I supposed I could do some work, whip out some medical books to study, but I was to anxious to focus. 

I was afraid this would happen. Coming to college was my chance, my shot at making my life. Making memories! That's all I wanted, was to go out to the fullest extent, and keep every single moment of it in my mind. And I thought, rather naïvely, I could just leave that empty gap that was highschool behind. Like I could get off scot-free, but no, my fears were confirmed: someone had asked what happened in highschool. I wished it wasn't Howard. Why him? It wasn't like I could avoid my closest (and admittedly only) friend. 

Thoughts flooded my head, and Flappy Bird _thunked_ into a pipe and died. I sighed and closed my eyes. Me too, Flappy Bird, me too. 

My phone buzzed in my hand, and I cracked open an eye to see who texted me. 

**From: Howard**  
hey what are u doing

 **To: Howard**  
Just hanging at my dorm, you?

 **From: Howard**  
hmm idk just wondering why you were freaking out earlier

I gulped. Shit.

 **To: Howard**  
What??? No, I wasn't freaking out!

 **From: Howard**  
i call BS

 **To: Howard**  
Look, don't worry about it. I was just tired because of all the cart pushing.

Ah yeah, that's gold. I mentally high-fived myself. 

**From: Howard**  
what did i do to piss you off cunningham??

 **To: Howard**  
You think that I'm...mad at you?

 **From: Howard**  
well duh why else did you leave my place so quick? you even turned down GRAVEPUNCHERS

 **To: Howard**  
No no no you've got the wrong idea! I swear I'm not mad at you. I just was distracted and thinking about other things. 

**From: Howard**  
well u better get yourself sorted out because how am I gonna beat the boss one player

I sighed with relief. He didn't push the subject. Sometimes Howard had his funny own way of being the best friend ever. 

**To: Howard**  
...Or jam without a keytarist?

 **From: Howard**  
exactly!! 

**To: Howard**  
Don't worry buddy. We'll hang out tomorrow!!

 **From: Howard**  
and learn to cook from the best ass kicker food has ever seen?

 **To: Howard**  
I wouldn't miss it for anything. 

**From: Howard**  
get ur sentimental ass out of here cunningham 

**To: Howard**  
See you tomorrow loser

 **From: Howard**  
bye asshat

I laughed harder than I had in a long time, partially from relief that things weren't awkward anymore. Brent turned and raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. 

That night, when I laid down on my back to go to sleep, I felt like I was floating again. Floating just like I had in that weird nightmare or dream or whatever it was from last night. I furrowed my eyebrows. No, no, I didn't want to think about that now. It made my gut churn for some reason. It sent the sensation of someone calling my name, but when I turned around, I couldn't find who said it. I didn't know why, and that made my head spin even more. 

I replayed going to the store with Howard, and then our conversation, and then thought about hanging out with him tomorrow. I began almost clinging on to him for good thoughts, but I didn't really care. Without anyone to be close with for 4 years, Howard's friendship slowly began to fill the huge gap. I slept peacefully that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update??? UPDATE???? wow thats right, chuzzle actually updated months later. sorry about the wait, I've got my list of excuses as much as the next writer (school, tests, life, etc) but that isn't what your here for!! 
> 
> What you want to know is, when is the next update? Worry not, because now that it's summer, I can update MUCH quicker!! :)
> 
> Also, I'll be following the tag #fic:a new chance
> 
> Stay tuned! Comments and kudos appreciated!!!!


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